


Gunslinger Gal

by TeamAR_M4A1



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-19 03:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14228043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamAR_M4A1/pseuds/TeamAR_M4A1
Summary: A simple girl decides to play one of the best VRMMORPG games in the world.





	1. Beginner’s Luck

**Author's Note:**

> Based off Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, and IronSight.

( **2027 A.D** )

Just a normal day for Mari Ohara while managing her family’s hotel business. Her daily routine these days ever since graduating from Uranohoshi Girls' High School. She hasn’t kept in contact much with Kanan, Dia, and the rest of Aqours since then. She spent like four years at a university in Italy before moving back to Japan. It was then two years ago that she heard about what happened around Japan but thankfully she wasn’t around when it happened. Things were bad for a limited time but her family’s hotel house and hometown of Uchiura were okay and gone back to normal. Unfortunately for her, it has put a lot of stress on her because her parents have left the country and entrusted her with the family hotel home which added more workload to her busy schedule. It wasn’t an easy life for her especially when her family have high expectations for her but that didn’t stop her from doing the things she wanted to do. She started playing VRMMORPG games recently when she returned back to Japan. It was one of the few things she was able to do to escape the stressful world whenever she was able to have free time. The other thing she also enjoys is collecting weapons and use them in target practice. But her taste in video games have changed over time and she has been jumping from one game to another until she can find the perfect game to dedicate her time to. That is, until she found an ad online about a new VRMMO game that for some reason made her interest peak.

“What’s this? Gun Gale Online? Fight for the side you choose to` fight for intense player vs player combat or explore the four regions in a post-apocalyptic Earth setting and shoot down enemy NPCs with a mass variety of weapons. Over a thousand weapons to choose from and character customization for your personal avatar.” Mari is puzzled by the game but knows that this is a tempting thing for her to experience because she can be able to try out all sorts of weapons in a VR game without the need to spend real money on actual guns to collect or use.  This could be the game for her that she can dedicate her time into as well since collecting guns is one of her favorite hobbies aside from sports and horse riding.

“I wonder… maybe this game is the one for me. I want to see this for myself. Maybe I should ask Kanan or Dia about it.”

She then gives Kanan a call but is unable to reach her due to her phone number changed for some odd reason. So then, she tries Dia’s number. Thankfully, Dia was able to pick up the call.

“Hey Mari, what’s up?”

“Dia, listen, I saw an ad for this VRMMORPG game that looks very interesting but there is something a little strange about it.”

“Which one? The Gun Gale Online game?”

“Yes, that one. I have a very strange feeling about signing up and playing this new game.”

“About that, well, I signed up for the game earlier today and it is really fun.”

“I don’t understand on this “choose a faction” thing that it mentions a lot. Do I have to pick a side to fight with?”

“Apparently, the game is published by a company that no one has ever heard but it is legit. While there is PvP aspects in the game, it’s mostly PvE content in it. So you don’t have to worry so much on enemy players ambushing you.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“You still like collecting and trying out guns, don’t you Mari?”

“Well, I still do but I wonder if this game is worth the trouble. I’m just kind of scared of something bad could happen since I read about the incident about that game called Sword Art Online and the players that were stuck because of the VR equipment.”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s nothing like that game. Besides, this game uses a new VR gear that is safe for players. Nothing bad will happen.”

“Alright then, I’ll give this game a try. Thanks for your help, Dia.”

“No problem and if you need any help, just give me a call. Bye for now, Mari.”

* * *

Mari returned back home an hour later and bought the AmuSphere VR gear that is required to play the new game she is interested in. It wasn’t too difficult for her to know how to use it but she felt a little uneasy about using a VR headgear like this. This is the first time she ever used such an advanced VR technology like this. However, she is willing to give anything a try if it means enjoying something that she may like. She lies down in bed as it is recommended to be in a comfortable place before using the AmuSphere VR gear.

“Here goes nothing. Link Start.”

She turns on the AmuSphere by saying the words and selects the game she wants to play which then begins to throw her into an introduction video of the world of Gun Gale Online. It tells her that the world suffered a massive devastating mega tsunami and violent space wars which left much of the world and outer space in ruins. It also mentions about a new resource fuel was discovered called Trinitium but humanity returned back to reclaim what was left of the planet after the complete destruction of the space colonies around the Earth. Two major factions, the North Atlantic Federation (N.A.F) and the Energy Development Enterprise Network (E.D.E.N.), have been engaged in a war for many decades and continue to fight on, even over the remains of the planet. The intro made her feel a little puzzled mainly because before when it came to online games prior to VR games, players never cared much about story background and such. However, for this kind of game to utilize a story background like that is very strange to her. She’s then given a prompt action to choose one of two PMC factions.

“What’s this? N.A.F. or E.D.E.N? So I have to choose one of them as my permanent allegiance before I can make my avatar? This is super weird.” She finds it completely strange that a VRMMORPG game like this has an outdated forced option for players to choose from but what bothers her more is that a game like this shouldn’t even have two military factions at all for a VRMMO game. Nevertheless, she has no other choice but to pick one of them. “Damn it, this game keeps getting weirder by the second. Well, I’ll just pick the N.A.F. faction since I’m not fond of Eastern-based factions, even if it’s pure fiction. I hope this game is worth the time and money I spent on.”  She can finally create her avatar character after going through that minor hassle there. She scrolled around the customization system to see if she can something that is close to her image and liking. She found a long hairstyle and eye color that is close enough to her real self. She was even surprised to see a chest size option which gave her the idea of making herself a busty female avatar but decided against the idea to avoid unwanted attention by male players. She finished creating her avatar and she was suddenly transported somewhere in a flash.

“Huh? Oh wow… this is… me. I can’t believe this. It feels so surreal yet it is almost like me. She pokes at her avatar’s cheeks and gives her a tingling sensation. “Ahhh… it feels so real as well down to the touch.”

“ **Please enter into the training ground area.** ” The ingame voice system tells her.

“Oh right, I need to see how this game works. I’ll get some tutorial bonus stuff.”

She walks towards the training area where she is greeted by a NAF soldier who looks like one of the characters from the promotional ad wearing a high-tech helmet from the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

“Holy crap, you look like the soldier from the ad of this game.”

“Welcome to Gun Gale Online, ShinyOhara. My name is Sigma and yes, I am that soldier from the ad but rest assure, I’m not some programmed NPC. I’m as real as you are in this game. This character is my avatar.” He says to her

“Ohhh! I can’t believe it. Also, I noticed that you speak with a with a Brooklyn accent. Are you from New York City by any chance?”

“Yes, I am. Born and raised there. How did you know?”

“Well, I live in Japan but I am Italian American and I have been to New York City a few times before.”

“You don’t say? Well, unfortunately, I can’t break out of character nor share anything too personal but if you want to talk to me more in private, you can add me as a friend later on and hit me up with a DM whenever you like. Anyway, I’m here to take you to your trainer who will show you the basic mechanics of this game. Follow my lead.”

Mari follows Sigma to a ruined out area where she is greeted by another NAF soldier.

“Hey Jin, we got a new player here. This person here is Jin, he’s a famous former MI6 agent that took down one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations. He will be your tutorial instructor. ”

“Are you bloody serious? I’m on break right now. You should teach the newbie the basics.” He says in a very angry British accent.

Mari is more surprised that another character from the promotional ad is standing before her but he seems to be very pissed at the moment.

“I’m sorry, I guess signed up at a very bad moment.”

“Come on now, Jin. Don’t make the new player feel bad now. Besides, I already trained the last new player that came by. It’s your turn.”

“Bloody damn, alright then. I’ll train the stupid newbie.”

“Jin, be nice to her. You don’t want the boss to get on your case for not helping new players out.”

“Fine, I’ll be nice. Alright then, lass, follow me to the tutorial area.”

Mari follows Jin to the shooting area where he hands her a standard 9mm M9 Beretta 92 pistol.

“Alright then, shoot the targets down there. Let’s see what you can do.”

Mari feels a bit nervous holding the M9 pistol because it’s been a while since she fired a gun due to her busy schedule life. However, she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of an elite veteran player who angrily agreed to train her. She takes a long deep breath and takes aim at the target. She closes one eye to get a better aim and fires the pistol. The first shot veers off badly which made Jin facepalm a bit in embarrassment.

“Dear god, what the bloody hell was that?”

“S-Sorry, I haven’t fired a weapon in a long time. So it feels like my first time using a weapon.”

“I think I should be the one to say sorry since I’m not in a very good mood today but I agreed to train you since it is my turn to do this. Anyway, I can see that you feel nervous right now. Here’s a piece of advice, don’t think about pulling the trigger hard to hit something. Relax and think about the target in front of you, that’s your main objective. Give it another try.”

Mari gives it another try and relaxes herself to ease up the tension on the weapon and trigger. She fires the weapon again and hits the target perfectly this time around.

“Wow, I did it!”

“There you go, that’s how you do it, lass. Fire a few more shots at the target. Also, you don’t always have to shoot when aiming down your sights since this game has Bullet Line aim assist mode system on at all times but it’s consider as more effective tactic if you want to take out targets from long range.”

She fires a few more rounds into the target with perfect precision and timing which gives her a comfortable feeling of handling the weapon despite having an aim assist mode function. It’s like everything that she forgot about has come back to her.

“I think you got the hang of it. Come with me now, I’m going to teach you to use better weapons.”

* * *

 

After spending a few hours in tutorial training and one week of hunting down monsters and robots, she enters into SBC Glocken city and was overjoyed that she was able to earn 400,000 credits which she can use to purchase a better weapon and a better outfit since her starter weapon and outfit isn’t very useful and appealing anymore.

“I think I should buy a better outfit first since I want to look good and strong among other players. But what to wear? I don’t want to look like a goof ball or some slut… decisions, decisions…” However, she checks her level and status to see what she needs to do. “Well, my current stat levels are okay for now. My STR, VIT, INT, AGI, DEX, and LUC are looking good but I’m dying for a better weapon to use and I have more points to spend on to increase my stats further.” She increases all of her stats a little bit but stops to save the rest for any particular weapon she wants that needs a certain stat requirement. “I guess it’s time for some weapon and outfit shopping for me. I wonder what they have on special. ”

Mari goes into the shop and looks around to buy an outfit of her liking but there are some outfits that she likes a lot. However, she takes notice that most of the region areas are vast desert wastelands and decides to purchase a sniper jacket outfit dubbed as the “Sinon Outfit” for some odd reason yet it’s very fitting for her need to stand out. She checks in her inventory for the outfit and equips it on.

“This outfit seems perfect for me. It does show a little bit of skin and my butt but it’s great for the desert environment; I guess that’s why they call it the Sinon Outfit. Now to find the right weapon for me. But damn, I only have enough for one good weapon and all of these weapons look so expensive. Should I go for an assault rifle, submachine gun, or sniper rifle? Damn, some of these weapons needs a little more DEX and STR. I think I have some points left to increase those.”

But she couldn’t decide on what weapon there is that she likes or suits her taste. She then hears someone calling for her attention while browsing around.

“Hey there, looking for a great gun for a good bargain?” A voice calls out to her.

“Huh? What?”

“I said do you need a great gun for a good cheap bargain?”

She sees a tall woman with blue hair in a ponytail style and wearing a dark assault type diver suit. She seems to have brick-colored, geometric-figured tattoo that extends from both of her cheeks to the nape of her neck which gives off an intimidating vibe from her. “You look a little lost in the weapon you want to purchase. I think I can help you on that, Blondie.”

“Really? I’m trying to see which gun is my kind of style but the prices of these weapons.”

“There’s a shop I know that brings in some great guns including a special rare one that they are bringing in today.” She looks at her with a smile that for some reason is making Mari feel a bit nervous.

“Well uh… I don’t know… I guess I’ll give it a try.”

“That’s the spirit, Blondie.”

“Sorry but that’s not my name. It’s ShinyOhara.”

“You don’t say? Well then, Ohara, it’s nice to meet you, my name is KanKan. You can call me, Kan since it’s easier to remember for you.”

“Hmm… that name sounds familiar… and you look familiar to someone I know but I don’t know from where I have heard or seen you from...”

“You shouldn’t worry about that. Right now, you should focus on getting the weapon you want. Come with me, I’ll show you a great shop that sells great weapons at a fantastic cheap bargain.”

Mari decided not to bother with the name in question since getting a weapon is more important than some player’s name. She follows Kan to this shop that sells weapons at a better and cheaper price compared to the main shops. Mari is left speechless when she sees a lot of weapons in display with very cheap price tags on them.

“Look at all of these guns… so many bargains and cheap prices… what to choose…” she says.

“Pick out any weapon you like, I’m sure you can afford it.”

That’s when Mari took a good look on a special fancy sniper rifle that is on a sale special.

“Oh my GOD!!! Is that a PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II sniper rifle?”

“Oh that, it just came in today as a special weapon. This weapon can only be dropped from a high-level boss in a dungeon but today, it seems that there was some good fortunate for the person who found this weapon. But you need to have good DEX and STR to use this bad boy.”

“Shit… I have enough points to increase them but then, I would need another weapon to compensate.”

“You could always use a pistol as a secondary weapon for backup and to avoid movement penalty from overweight.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all. I could earn more credits later for a better secondary weapon down the road. But I want to buy this sniper so bad. I want this legendary weapon. I can feel that this weapon is the one for me.” She stares at it with such a desired look on her face as if the weapon is calling for her to buy and use it.

“Of course, I can hear it saying, “Please buy me and use me to your heart’s content”.

“Yes, I will definitely buy this gun.”

“Hehe, you’re a smart girl. You won’t regret your purchase.”

After spending much of her money on the legendary Hecate II sniper and a machine pistol along with plenty of bullet ammo for both weapons, Mari feels very content with her purchase as she walks behind KanKan but she is nearly broke in terms of currency. However, she didn’t care much on how much she had left since she was able to get what she wanted.

“You seem so happy there, Ohara. I guessing you are enjoying yourself in this game so far.”

“Oh yeah, I am. Thank you for everything.”

“It’s no problem at all. Take good care of that weapon.”

“I will.”

“Have you thought of a special name for your weapon?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll call it Hecate-chan since it sounds simple to me and cute as well.”

“That is cute there. Not bad at all. I think you and Hecate-chan are going to be great sniping partners. By the way, do you have any ideas on this game’s setting or you didn’t bother much with the intro video?”

“Eh… I didn’t pay attention much but it was very vague on its background.”

“This city here is called SBC Glocken. It was created from a space battle cruiser ship hence the “SBC” in the name. Humanity ventured out into space before along with the construction of space colonies but two factions, NAF and EDEN, were at constant war with each other which led to a serious of violent space battles and battles on Earth.”

“Wait, so this is a post-apocalyptic world here?”

“Yep, the Earth was left in ruins much and the space colonies that used to orbit around the planet have vanished completely. So space travel and life is a thing of the past. All there is fighting between the NAF and EDEN factions on the precious Trinitium resource and other stuff.”

“I get it now. That explains the story intro and the setting here. I wondered why this game felt a little grim and depressing sometimes. I guess it makes sense for the game to have such a feeling like that.”

Anyway, you want to hang out with me since you don’t seem to have anyone else with you?”

“Uh… sure, why not. I’ll add you as a friend.” Mari brings up her friends list menu while KanKan sends her a friend add. “I think I got the hang of this.”

“Not bad, you didn’t even need to ask for help on adding friends.”

“Yeah, I was taught by the best instructor during the tutorial. So I’m used to this now.”

“Excellent then, I hope you don’t mind for something I have plan for later on whenever you have some time.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“You’ll see in due time. You and I will be great friends from this point on.” She smiles and softly laughs to herself as she puts up a scary face at her. Mari has a very weird feeling about this but doesn’t complain about it. All she can do is go with the flow for now.

* * *

 

( **2 months into the game** )

Nearly two months have passed since Mari started playing GGO and she has been hunting enemy humanoids and monsters down with the use of her Hecate sniper rifle with her friend, KanKan. She has been hanging around with her lately. Sometimes they would hunt down enemy targets or take down bosses in dungeon areas. For a time, things were looking good for her. But today, they got into a PvP search and destroy game mode that has its own unique map layout that is not part of the game’s world environment. A team of eight players are pitted against another team of eight and they have to destroy one of two objectives in a certain area but every player only has one life and if they die, there is no respawning. Unfortunately for Mari, her first PvP battle hasn’t turned out quite well due to her team is losing four random players against the E.D.E.N. team who have the terrain and map advantage.

“Hey Jin, where is the enemy hiding out?”

“They are hiding up that bloody hill behind the ruins. The EDEN team have both objectives locked down. We just lost four guys going for Alpha and Bravo is impossible to take now.”

“Shit, we don’t have much time left. We need to score a point to win this battle. Does any have a spy drone available?”

“Nope, none of us have any drones.”

“There’s only you, me, the crazy gun woman, the newbie sniper, and a random player with us. How the bloody hell are we going to pull this off without any drone support?”

“I guess the only thing you’re good at is complaining, Mr. Jin. I just want to use this AK-47 assault rifle I’ve been dying to try out but I guess that won’t be happening.” Kan mocks him for his constant complaining while she examines her weapon’s magazine clip and loads it up into her weapon. “You should try to think of a plan right now or else they will come and destroy us.”

“Shut the bloody fuck up, you idiot. All you do is just sit there and insult others as if you’re some hotshot player.”

“Cool it, Jin. We don’t have time to argue; we need to destroy one of the objectives right now.”

“You got a plan then, Sigma? I would love to hear it.”

“Maybe we can use our best sniper for this risky plan here.”

“Huh? Me?” Mari asked since she’s the only player using a sniper rifle. “Why me?”

“You’re the best chance we have against those fools up on the ruins who think they have the high ground.”

“B-But… they do have the advantage and there is no way we can get rid of them.”

“Oh there is a way but I need your sniping skills for this. We need you to snipe them out of position as soon as Jin goes for the bomb and arm it to throw at the objective.”

“You want me to get the bloody bomb? You’re crazy.”

“Sorry Jin, you’re the only one who is closer to the bomb and you’re the fastest.”

“What? There’s no way I can pull this. We don’t know how many players they have up there.”

“Four.”

“What?”

“They have four players up there. They made the mistake in splitting up to cover both objectives. That means we can pick off the team that is guarding this objective and plant the bomb. The other half of their team will respond but it will be slow one. If we can pull this off, we will win this battle. So, I trust you in providing sniping support for us.”

“ _They always say the first rule about sniping in games like this is strike first and then move to the next position. Never stay in the same position for too long unless you’re highly skilled or the enemy has very low situation awareness. In this situation, it’s crazy and suicide for any sniper player. However, not all sniper players work alone. I have at least some teammates I can work with which means there is a good chance of success if this works._ ” Mari had to think for a moment since this plan is not only insane but very risky as well because not only it depends on timing and luck but it also depends on her sniping skills to provide overwatch cover for them and destroy the objective. She had some doubts in her mind but she has faith in Kan’s crazy plan. Aside from that, she isn’t the newbie player that she was two months ago. “Alright then, I’ll do my best. Let’s make this plan work.”

“Good girl. Hey Sigma, I’m going to rush and distract them while you and Ohara cover Jin who will grab and arm the bomb at Alpha. If we can do this, it will be checkmate.”

“It’s risky but I think it will work as long as the other half of their team doesn’t respond quickly.”

“Don’t worry about that; Ohara will take care of them. It’s all or nothing.”

“Alright then, wait for my signal.”

There was a short pause as they prepared and readied themselves before they make their big move towards the enemy and objective. The area sounds and feels quiet since the enemy is lying in wait to stop any push they plan to make.  Mari sits up top in a suitable rock where she has a good sniping position that overlooks objective Alpha. It’s a great overwatch position for any skilled sniper players but not good in terms of protection if one is compromised or targeted. It’s a risk she must take as a sniper player and she is willing to do everything she can to protect her teammates. She goes into a crouching position and looks through the scope of her weapon. She takes a long deep breath as she puts her finger on the trigger, ready to fire at the moment the plan goes into action. Sigma holds up his hand signaling for them to wait.

“Alright, go! Cover fire!”

They opened fire on the enemy above the hill. The enemy EDEN players doesn’t respond much until they noticed Kan making her move and rushing towards their position. Two of them form up a kill zone line but one of them drops dead to the ground and disappears.

“What the hell? They have a sniper overwatch somewhere.” The EDEN players tried to shift positions but another of their players is taken down with another quick sniper shot by Mari. The best thing about her sniper rifle is that it uses anti-material bullets which means that no matter where she shoots her targets at, they will die from one shot, especially in a PvP match like this where one simple mistake equals death.

“Shit, we need backup.”

Another player goes down as he calls in help due to being exposed into Mari’s line of sight.

“Screw you, NAF dogs!!!”

The last EDEN soldier on the objective blindly fires his weapon from cover but none of his shots are hitting anything. Kan primes a grenade and throws it, killing the fourth enemy player behind cover instantly.

“Jin, go now!”

Jin bolts it and grabs the C4 suitcase bomb. “Got it. Arming the bomb.” He opens the case and punches in the arming sequence before leaving it on objective Alpha. “Heads up, the bomb is armed.” He leaves and heads towards the nearest cover. Unfortunately for him, the other half of the enemy team made a flanking maneuver and almost caught him in a kill zone fire. “Bloody shit hell! Incoming EDEN player reinforcements.”

“Crap, cover Jin.”

Mari then turns as quickly as she can to take down some of their numbers more as before. “ _Shit, here they come. Don’t miss your shots, Mari._ ” She tells herself in her mind as she starts to experience an adrenaline rush. Despite being a VR game, it felt like she was going through a real rush in her body, thinking that this battle is a life and death moment. She fires one shot and takes out one of the incoming enemy before she firing another shot. Her second shot takes out another rushing EDEN player into the head, counting it as a headshot kill. The last remaining enemy players started focusing their gunfire on her position as now they have her on their sights.

“Damn it, they know where I am. I have to run.”

However, she failed to take notice that one of the enemy players is equipped with a powerful semi-automatic sniper rifle that has a better rate of fire compared to her superior yet slow reloading bolt action weapon. He manages to get a Bullet Line lock onto her which made her hesitate in fear from displacing from the vantage point.

“ _Oh no, he has a lock on me… I’m finished…._ ”

Suddenly, the EDEN sniper player drops dead to the ground and disappears.

“Haha! I’m over here, you tools.” Kan comes to her rescue as she manically laughs and kills the last attacking player.

The bomb goes off with their team securing the victory point and battle.

“ **Objective Destroyed. N.A.F. Wins!** ”

“Well now, that was fun. I love the feel of a good gun battle.” She looks up at Mari and gives off her usual sadistic smile from the intense gunfight she enjoys.

Mari couldn’t believe what she is seeing from her friend there but she feel relieved that Kan saved her in the nick of time. “Thank you for saving me there. I thought for sure he got me there.”

“You did great back there. I told you I can trust you in pulling this off, Mari.”

“Thank y-…. What? Did you call me by my actual?” Mari is shocked to hear that her friend knows her actual first name for some reason.

“Of course, I knew all along that it is you, Mari. Your username is too familiar for me to even forget about. It was the same username that you used before you left.”

“So… you didn’t even try to guess my name…’

“I like I said, your username is too familiar for me to not notice. Besides, you should have recognized me because of my hair color and eyes or have you forgotten what I look like?”

“No… is that really you, Kanan?”

“Ahaha, you bet it is.” She sadistically smiles at her like some scary looking person. “Just remember, you belong to me, Mari.”

 


	2. One Shot, One Kill

“It’s been another month since that day I found out that my new friend is someone that I used to love back then. It still feels so unreal to know that the person who helped you this far up turns out to be the person who still loves you…” Mari huddles herself in the corner of her bed. She was crying a bit because not only of the shocking truth about Kanan but that she was invited to join a squadron clan group that consist on some of good veteran players who enjoys PvP matches which is something she is not comfortable with. Things have been okay between them for a month to the point that they started dating each other like before. However, she is not so great in handling PvP matches ever since her first time in that search & destroy battle where she was nearly killed off. What’s worst is that she was saved by her childhood friend who she hasn’t talked to in a long time and she didn’t even recognize her which made her feel like a lousy girlfriend. “I’m such a disgrace of a friend… I don’t deserve someone like Kanan.” As she continues to mope around in sadness, she receives a message on her AmuSphere from Kanan who wants her to login and join up for some hunting missions. She feels reluctant on joining because she doesn’t feel all mopey and crying in front of her because of what happened but at the same time, she doesn’t want to make her worry about her. She thinks for a bit before deciding on whether or not she wants to join Kanan and her squadmates.

“ _What should I do? Should I simply go in or give up playing this game?_ ” Her thoughts are making it difficult for her to log into the game despite putting a lot of dedicating time and money into it. “ _Kanan wants me to join her but am I even good enough for her and her squadron? I don’t know what to do…_ ”  She then receives another message from Kanan which tells her that if she is not up for playing, then she can come play with her another time. She also tells her not to worry too much about it and that she loves her no matter what. “I see… I’m such an idiot… She still loves me…” She wipes her tears away after seeing the message from Kanan which made her feel a little better about herself. “I’m not going to be a quitter over a dumb mistake I did. I refuse to give up because of the past.” She gains her confidence and decides to play with her to prove herself that she is not quitter because of her past mistakes. She logs into the game only to be greeted by Kanan who has waiting for her.

“Yo, Mari. How’s it going?”

“Have you been waiting for me for a while?”

“Just only for a few minutes since I sent those two messages. It’s not a big deal. Anyway, would you like to hunt some baddies with me and a couple of squadmates?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. I don’t mind at all.”

“By the way, have you decided on joining our squadron?”

“I’m still thinking about it… it’s been a little tough for me this whole month.”

“I kinda noticed that you have feeling a little down in the dumps lately. Is everything okay with you?” She asked and smiles.

“Sorry, I haven’t been feeling so well because of what happened last month…”

“You're still worried about that? Hahaha!” Kanan laughs and muses on what Mari said to her. “You’re silly, Mari. I’m not upset at all about what happened. I told you before that you belong to me no matter what.”

“So, I’m still your girlfriend in a way…?”

“Of course, you’re my girlfriend, you silly girl. You honestly think I would find someone else? I’m not that type of person. You’re the only person for me always.”

“I must be a lousy girlfriend then. I let myself feel like an idiot because of my past mistakes yet you don’t feel anything about it… I’m the worst.”

Mari wanted to cry again but Kanan hugs her and tells her something in her ear.

“Don’t ever think like that. If you do, I will beat some sense into that head of yours. So many people have confessed to me but I always reject them because you’re the only person I want in my life, even in this VR game. No one will take you away from me and if they do, I will break them in two. Do you understand?”

“Yeah… I do… t-thank you, Kanan.”

Mari starts to feel much better now once she realize how much Kanan loves her despite Kanan being a crazy gun enthusiast player with a sadistic side that she only shows in this game. Kanan is the only person that protects her.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yeah, I feel much better now.”

“Now then, I want you to meet a couple of good players that I came across. They have a real knack for this game.”

She takes them to the lounge area in the Governor’s Office where there are four odd looking players that seem to attract some attention from other players around them. They seems to be cool judging from the way they look and behaving without causing any trouble.

“Sup, everyone.”

“What the hell? Who is this girl you brought here?”

“Chill now, this is my girlfriend. The one who I talked about before.”

“She looks green much.”

“Ha, that’s what you think, Mad Dog, but this girl isn’t a noob here. She’s the best sniper player in this game.”

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit on that statement.” Mari tells her while feeling embarrassed about it.

“The great Yohane finds that hard to believe that this player is an excellent sniper.”

“Look who’s talking, _zura_. You’re no better than anyone else here.”

“Shut the hell up, Zuramaru. All you do is fire wildly like a noob with those grenade launchers.”

“That’s true, _zura_. But at least I can get some kills unlike you who barely get a kill in PvP, _zura_.” Zuramaru tells her off in a smug manner as she seems to enjoy taunting Yohane in a way.  

“I hate you sometimes, Zuramaru. You always mock my luck and skill.”

“It’s not my fault that you suck most of the times.”

“Can we not have this? This is not the right time to have this petty squabbling here.”

“Keep out of this, Mad Dog. It’s none of your business.”

“Just saying.”

“Mari, I would like you to meet the crew here. The two silly people here is Yohane and Zuramaru. Yohane has a very unusual streak of bad luck with any weapon except for submachine guns while Zuramaru here is a crazy destructive player with dual grenade launchers. The gentlemen with the cap and sunglasses on top here is Mad Dog who is, of course, another character from the promo ad. He’s quite a smuggler with some good stuff. And there’s Hawk, who of course, is a man of few words but a mercenary who wants to help the weak which is surprising for a mercenary like him. F.Y.I., he doesn’t like showing his face which is why he is wearing a strange headgear that only shows his nose much. But he is a good guy once you get to know him.”

Hawk doesn’t say anything as he seems like the type of player that keeps to himself or only speaks when he feels like it as what Kanan mentioned about. While the whole thing continues on, Kanan chuckles a bit at the silly argument between Yohane and Zuramaru since this is the norm between the two players. Mad Dog on the other hand, is not amused by the childish antics and argument from them since all it does is draw unwanted attention to the group.

“Well, that’s enough fun for a bit. It’s time to get into serious business.”

“Eh? What kind of business?”

“This isn’t going to be a simple hunting quest here. A lot of bullets are going to be involved since this mission requires killing some players.”

“Oh shit, some player hunting time. This will be fun.”

“Not quite but close. We’re hunting for some precious Trinitium chips.”

“Wait, Trinitium chips? Are you serious? You’re crazy.”

“Am I or is the great Yohane a wimpy little scaredy cat?”

“Damn you… no one dares to call me a scaredy cat and gets away with it. I’ll show you. Let’s do this stupid quest.”

“Hold up, getting the Trinitium chips is not an easy task, especially from this group of EDEN that have some in their possession. We need a good hunting strategy to take them down or else it’s going to be a disaster for us.”

“That’s why we have our trump card here.”

Mari looks at her in a puzzling look not understanding what’s going on here. “Huh? Trump card? What do you mean by that?”

“The enemy team probably have a heavy unit soldier in their ranks. So we’ll need a sniper for some preemptive strike moves. That’s where Ms. Ohara comes in with her sniping skills.”

“Why me? Couldn’t you find someone else better than me?”

“Pfff, as if, none of these random chumps have the skill you have. Some of them can’t hit the broad side of a barn even if their lives depended on it. You’re the only person with high level sniping skill. If we can pull this off, then we call sell the Trinitium chips for a high amount of credits for each of us.”

“Each of us?”

“Of course, you silly girl. I’m not keeping that to myself because it’s only going to bring a lot of trouble on us if anyone of us keep them. Plus, that stuff is premium grade marketable treasure item which means high amount of credits to earn from this which is more than enough to pay the connection fee. It will be worth the hunt.”

“Oh right… I forgot that this game has a connection fee that needs to be paid after every six months.”

“Remember that this game is the only game that has a currency conversation system.”

“Huh? I think I forgot what that is.”

“It means you can turn ingame credits into actual real life currency which can be used to pay the connection pay. In fact, you can make a living off of this game with the ingame credits here.”

“Oh… I didn’t know that. I guess I could do this.”

“Alright then, that’s what I’m talking about. Come on, Hawk, let’s get ready.” Mad Dog walks out for a bit to prepare. Hawk silently complies and follows Mad Dog’s lead while Yohane and Zuramaru finish their argument and take their seats.

“Anyhow, are you two ready for this?”

“Only if Zuramaru stops picking on me.”

“I would if Yoshiko-chan stops acting like a baby over a silly joke.”

“Well, I’ll leave that up to you two. Come with me, Mari. We’re going to get ready.”

“O-Okay.” Mari answers timidly and follows Kanan outside. “ _I wonder if this is what they do most of the time._ ” She thinks in her mind since this is the first time that she will be hunting down players for some valuable treasure with a group of friendly players. She couldn’t help but laugh softly a bit. “Is this why you brought me along with you? To help me open up a bit to other people?”

“Well, you’re right about that. That was one reason why I brought you here to meet them.”

“What’s the other reason?”

“Like I mentioned before, we need your excellent sniping skills for this quest and it will be worth your while, Mari.”

“But… what if I screw up again like before? I don’t want to be a liability to you and your friends…”

“Don’t sweat it, if it happens, it happens. There’s nothing to worry about and it’ll be fun instead of always hunting down for robots and monsters all the time.”

“If you say so, I trust your words.”

“Good girl.” Kanan pats her on the head before she gives her a kiss on the lips. “Do you want to go somewhere for a date this weekend?”

“Oh, yes. I have this weekend free. Maybe we can go a watch a movie together, if you would like that.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let me know ahead of time so we can meet up.”

“Okay and thanks for cheering me up earlier, Kanan.”

“You don’t need to thank me. You know that I’m always here for you, even if I’m little insane and excited sometimes. I love you.”

“I love you too, Kanan.” Mari gives Kanan a kiss in which Kanan enjoys much despite being in a VR game. It’s the feeling and passion that makes it enjoyable for them to share.

“Alright, let’s go get some treasure and make some heads roll to the ground.

* * *

 

The group has been waiting for two hours in the Remnant Wasteland Field area for the enemy group to appear as they lie in wait behind some rocks for an ambush assault. Yohane feels a bit agitated while Zuramaru jiggles one of her grenades like a toy ball. Mad Dog below them is loading up 9mm bullets into a magazine clip for his MP5 custom SMG while he checks to see if the enemy appear. Hawk just playing it cool and checking his MSBS 556 assault rifle constantly to make sure it’s loaded and ready. Meanwhile, Kanan is up top with Mari in a good sniping vantage point looking up at the sky with a sunset setting.

“Is this virtual sunset amazing, Mari?” she says as she muses at the sunset sky despite being virtual.

“It’s almost as good as a real sunset in real life.”

“Yeah but it’s still amazing.”

Just as they keep on waiting, Mad Dog spots the enemy team from a good distance and whistles to them on their incoming targets. He signals Kanan using hand signs movements and tells her that the enemy team has eight players in total and moving in pairs of two on each side.

“Ha, excellent, this is even better.  Those stupid EDEN morons are dumber than I originally thought. Moving in pairs of two is the biggest mistake they’ll ever make.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it makes them super easy targets for sniper players like yourself to pick them off, especially with a legendary sniper weapon like yours.”

“Oh, I see now.” Mari looks through the scope of her Hecate sniper rifle and sees the enemy players stacked in a line in twos which means a 100% guarantee of scoring double kills with one shot on each pairs. “Two kills on them with one bullet each. My Hecate is the perfect weapon for this. Alright then, I know what to do.”

“Excellent! Time to lay waste to these suckers. Wait for my signal.” Kanan slides down from the steep vantage hill position and goes down into her own position behind a rock that is on the left side from Mad Dog and Hawk. “This is it, boys and girls. Payday time.”

“Yohane will make their lives miserable with this demonic P90 weapon.” She chuckles in excitement.

“Ready to blow them up, _zura_ ,” Zuramaru says as she holds both of her grenade launchers in readiness.

They wait for the enemy to move in closer so that Mari can pull off the first to kill the first two players and then a second one while they are in confusion. There is a small brief moment of tension and excitement from all of them except for Mari who is focused dead square on the enemy through her scope. She can feel a small adrenaline rush coursing through her body. Although this is a VR game, it will stimulate feelings and senses that you would normally experience in real life which kind of excites Mari a little bit because she can enjoy this feeling while at the same time, not worry about killing people since this is just a virtual reality video game. She can feel that this is the game that she wanted to experience and a chance to prove herself in the heat of virtual battle. She sees two enemy players in the rear holding and carrying a large container which is where the Trinitium chips are stored in. She gets an idea of sniping one of them after killing one pair of players. However, she rethinks on that since she knows that in sniping lesson 101, the enemy will be paralyzed in fear for a good few seconds before they can react and the best choice of taking down a lot of members in a big party group is collateral damage on their numbers while caught off guard.  So she decides to stick with the original sniping plan that Kanan laid out for her and reduce their numbers as soon as possible. But she fears that the enemy group may have an unknown heavy player unit somewhere among their ranks. She looks around and spots a ninth player behind them. “ _There it is. It must be their heavy unit player. Alright then, I’ll need to take him out as soon as possible._ ” She puts her finger the trigger and waits for the right moment.

Kanan signals her to take them down as they are close enough within range to ambush them.

“That’s the signal.” She fires the first shot, making a loud sound but for some reason, it wasn’t loud enough for the enemy to hear. The first shot kills two players that were stacked behind each other.

The shot caused the rest of the enemy team to pause in shock which allowed Mari to take advantage of their vulnerability and fires off a second shot which kills another pair of players. The second shot was the last shot she could do as she needs to relocate and find another sniping position since the enemy will try to find her. But luck is on her side as Kanan and the others catch the surviving enemy players off guard.

“Ahaha, how about some lead, you dumbass EDEN pricks?!”

Another EDEN player drops dead to the ground with the last three survivors scrambling to counter their assault. But the ninth player is not moving from his position as he sees his surviving comrades struggling like crazy.

Mari moves up on a tower platform where she can get a better overwatch position. She sees Kanan and the group finishing off the surviving EDEN players but she looks through her scope on the mysterious ninth player who is wearing a mask and cloak, standing still in the same position without even so much as flinching from the chaos and mayhem.

“End of the road, EDEN scumbags.” Mad Dog draws out his pistol to finish off a downed EDEN player.

“Screw you, NAF dogs. We’ll make you pay for this.”

“Sorry but dead players can’t shoot back.” He kills him with his Python revolver pistol he likes to use a lot. “And another scum bites the dust.”

“Ahaha, that’s what I’m talking about.”

“I should say that most of the credit belongs to your sniper girlfriend. She made it easy for us.”

But before they can celebrate, they take notice of Yohane looking at the mysterious ninth player who is still standing motionless.

“Hey dumbass, aren’t you going to surrender or something? I don’t think this guy is smart much. He doesn’t even say anything.”

 “Holy shit, get the fuck back from that guy, that’s a heavy unit.”

The mystery player suddenly removes his cloak and mask to reveal himself as a heavy juggernaut type player. He looks like a heavy assault sentinel robot due to his bizarre yet unique armored body and helmet. This type of player is using a metal riot shield and wielding a portable minigun weapon.

“Crap, he’s using a minigun AND riot shield. Get to cover!”

Everyone takes cover behind solid rocks for protection as the heavy unit player unleashes a barrage of bullets at them. This player is very unreal as he is high level STR and DEX to use both a riot shield and minigun like that along with absurd high level of VIT which increases his HP and defense. This is make impossible to fire back and Yohane and Zurumaru are unable to flank him due to one being unlucky while the other is too heavy. The strangest thing is how did this player obtained a riot shield like that since defense weapons like that are not regularly available for purchase.

“Where the hell did this bastard get a riot shield like that?”

“Possibly from some super rare drop since you can’t actually purchase shields like that yet.”

“That’s just fantastic…”

“Oh god… I recognize those weapons from anywhere. That guy is some cocky bodyguard type player named Behemoth. Those EDEN bastards were prepared.”

“Actually… it’s perfect.” Kanan smiles like a crazy person. “This fool thinks he has supreme attack and defense power but he is slow as molasses because of the penalty movement from both weapons. Perfect target for our sniper.”

Kanan was right about one thing; the heavy unit player is moving too slow even with super high level of STR and DEX. The combination of the shield and minigun along with its robotic armor makes him extremely sluggish when pursuing his targets or engaging in close combat. It’s his movement that is the biggest weakness of any heavily armored players.

‘Die, NAF dogs. I will crush every one of your NAF weaklings.”

“Don’t bet on it, turtle brain. You only got five of us pinned down while our sixth member has you in her sights. Mari, NOW!”

Mari lines up her shot using a skill called Phantom Bullet Line which can suppress enemy targets with bullets. This will allow her the chance to hit suppressed targets with pinpoint accuracy.

“Ha! You think that will stop me? I will kill you!”

Behemoth laughs at Mari despite hitting him hard with a suppression penalty on his movements and takes aim at her to shoot her out from the tower building. Mari pulls off one shot after another to keep him at bay but his super tough armor and metal riot shield is making it difficult to put him down into submission. Thankfully, the bullets for her weapon are anti-material bullets which means more damage to the target despite the super durable defense level. The downside of it is that her lock on aim is visible enough to give away her position much when trying to snipe targets from a distance. She is forced now to take cover as Behemoth open fires with his minigun and continues to laugh and taunt her on her pointless attempt in penetrating his armor defense.

“Your bullets are useless, little girl.”

“ _Shit, this is bad. He will kill me if he gets too close. I need to think of a way to get out of this or else I’m done for._ ” She knows that it’s only a matter of time until Behemoth destroys her sniping position by any means.

“Come out now, little rat. I want to crush you with my shield and foot.”

“Sorry, not a chance, metal head. I won’t go down that easily.”

“Then I will burn you down.”

Mari doesn’t have a lot of time as Behemoth is preparing to burn her out of the tower with a skill called Heat Discharge that will inflict a flaming blaze attack from a gatling gun weapon and decrease its heat level. This skill can be extremely painful for any player that doesn’t have high level resistance against blaze attacks.

“ _Crap, I won’t be able to resist a blaze attack skill. I need to do something quick. Wait… his aiming is very poor despite having high STR, VIT, and DEX. That weapon has very bad Bullet Circle lock aim against fast moving targets and he has very low AGI. That means he needs his targets to either be stationary or too slow for him to dodge. That means I can shot off his right arm before he can unleash his skill attack. I need to time this right._ ” She realize that her target is using a heavy weapon which means very poor accuracy hit rate and low AGI. She can be able to snipe his arm off in the soft part of his armored body. But she only has one chance to pull this off and if she misses, then she is doomed to fail and get taken out. She closes her eyes for a bit and takes a deep breath as she prepares to dive against Behemoth to disarm him. It’s a very risky and suicidal move which will most likely get her killed but it’s better than letting him come for her and burn her to death.

“Prepare to die, little rat.” He starts to charge up his minigun weapon with his skill attack and tries to get a Bullet Line lock on her location.

But before he can do such attack, Mari takes advantage of his vulnerability and dive jump towards him while aiming her Hecate sniper rifle at him.

“Stupid idiot, I will cut you down from here.”

“Just try it.”

He open fires at her which clips off her left leg but that didn’t stop her as she aims down to the ground and fires her weapon off in which she uses it as a jump booster and does mid-air dodges to catch Behemoth off guard in his blind spot.  

“What the…?” He tries in vain to shoot her down but his arm and weapon is too heavy and armored for him to aim up high and get a lock on her. He is also unable to block any shot from that vulnerable area with his shield.

“You have terrible AGI. That’s checkmate, you bastard.” She locks on and aims at his arm. She fires a round which goes through and cuts his right arm off clean.

“DAMN YOU, RAT!!!” He yells at her for the dirty stunt she did. The shock from her shot causes him to kneel down a bit but he didn’t scream at all since he is too strong to feel pain much. However, Mari’s dirty trick angered Behemoth and it didn’t stop him from trying to carry out his revenge at Mari using the only arm he has left She is now very much vulnerable on the ground due to losing her left leg and can’t run away to hide. “It doesn’t matter now, I can still crush you like a bug with my shield.”

Mari tries to crawl for her weapon on the ground to fight back but Behemoth steps on it to prevent her from using it. “ _No, no, no… I’m done for…_ ” She knows that there is no chance of fighting back or escaping from this. But once again, luck would be on her side as someone charges at Behemoth from behind.

“Banzai dive charge!”

It was Kanan who came to her rescue and jumps on top of Behemoth. She uses her legs to blind him and put him in a choke hold to divert his attention away from Mari. He staggers blindly trying to get Kanan off but is unable to do so with only one arm. “Sorry, big boy, but no one dares to hit my girlfriend like that and gets away with it. It makes me trigger happy and bloodthirsty. Time to DIE!” She rams and shoots her AK-47 assault rifle directly into his helmet which causes him to stop and drop to the ground. She does a backflip and lands softly on the ground on her feet as the death blow on Behemoth makes him vanish into digital dust.

“That was quite fun. Are you okay, my princess?”

“Y-Yeah, I am. Thank you for coming to my rescue and believing in me.”

Kanan picks up and carries Mari in her arms like a princess. “I told you before that you don’t need to thank me for anything. I wasn’t going to let some scumbag player in killing you off like that. You’re my girlfriend after all. I may be crazy and bloodthirsty but I will never abandon you in battle ever.”

“You’re right. I’m just happy that I was able to help out more than before.”

“Hey now, you always help out no matter what it is. But that’s not the reason why I wanted you to play with me and the squadron. I wanted you to be part of my life again.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Mari, the truth is… I was a stupid idiot back then and I wanted to reignite the passion we had before. That’s why I wanted you to play with me in a game like this.”

“I see… could you please tell me more about this later on? Because I don’t want us to look awkward in front of your friends like this.”

She notices Yohane and Zuramaru snickering at them while Mad Dog facepalms and Hawk simply doesn’t say anything at their supposed romantic moment.

“Oops, I forgot about that.  I guess I’m a silly goof.”

“Yeah but you’re my silly goof.”

“Alright then, let’s go deliver the goods and get our pay.”

* * *

Mari gasped for a moment and woke up from a short nap she took after the hunting mission in the game. Her body is sweating a bit and feels her head hurting a bit. She looked at her clock to see what time is it. “Holy crap, it’s 9:00pm. I should make some dinner right now.” But before she left her room, she check her phone to see if anyone left any important messages to her. She sees one message from Kanan who plans to come over her house in one hour but the message was received at 8:00pm which means she is coming soon.

“Oh god, she’s almost here. I can’t come out like this. I need to find something to wear.”

She goes through her dresser closet to find a decent dress to wear. The only thing she can find is her beautiful white dress that she normally wears around her house. It’s slightly see-through but it’s decent enough to wear around people in the house. A familiar voice calls her name out; it is Kanan and she managed to let herself in.

“She’s here already? How did she get in? Ugh, nevermind, I’ll just go without my makeup.”

She leaves her room to see Kanan downstairs who is standing around waiting for her.

“Hey Mari. Sorry about for letting myself in. I used the spare house key you gave me a month ago.”

“Oh… right… I forgot about that. I almost got mad at myself for wondering on that. I haven’t been feeling like myself lately.”

“Is everything okay with you?” She checks Mari’s head for fever. “Your head feels warm and you like a little sweaty. Did you wake up from a nap or something?”

“Yeah, I was but for some reason, I woke up feeling hot. The air conditioner probably didn’t turn on automatically. I’ve been having some trouble with the AC lately but with my busy schedule and game time, I haven’t been able to call someone to check the problem.”

“Ah, I see. Maybe I can try and take a look at it since I had to deal with problems like this before.”

“Thank you, Kanan.”

“I told you before that you don’t need to thank me for anything. I would do anything to make you happy or did you forget about that?”

“Sorry, I’m not thinking straight right now because of the nap.”

“Anyway, I brought some food for us since I know that you haven’t eaten dinner yet.”

“Huh? How did you know about that?”

“I didn’t. It was just an odd guess there.”

“Oh, well then, I guess I don’t need to make food for myself then. We should eat it while it’s still warm.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

They went to a big dining room where Mari used to eat with her family when they were still living around. She doesn’t get to see them much ever since they left overseas to expand their hotel business and have stayed there. It feels empty much these days despite the usual business activity around the town of Uchiura. Not many tourists or visitors come around in this part of town much these days but business is still booming as usual. But it doesn’t feel the same like in the older days for her.

“It really feels empty here much. It only felt it was yesterday since my mom and dad used to always be here and we eat dinner together. Even when I was a little kid, I always enjoy eating with my parents at this table.”

“Do you miss those old days? Even our time in Aqours?”

“To be honest… I do. I miss them a lot dearly because you and Dia were there along with everyone else. You two were always there for me, even when we had that terrible argument. She brought us together and from there, we took it all the way until we graduated.”

“Yeah… I missed everyone from Uranohoshi. That school was the best place for us, especially for all the memories we made there. I only wish that the school wasn’t destroyed from the tsunami disaster four years ago. It was the only school that Uchiura had there and it’s completely gone because of what happened.”

“Did the tsunami really demolished the school completely?”

Kanan sighed for a moment. “Yes, it did. No one honestly expected that to happen since it happened way too fast. Thankfully, no one died that day but losing the school like that was heartbreaking.”

“I know. I wish there was something we could have done to save it but…”

“Don’t blame yourself for something that was beyond our control. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.”

“You’re right… Say, this food you brought here is fantastic. Did you make this?”

“Err, no, I didn’t. It was Dia that made the food.”

“Wait, she made this wonderful delicious food?”

“Yeah. After she graduated, she decided to go into cuisine business during her college years. She then opened her own restaurant business in Numazu City which is really awesome. A lot of people go there and they love her meals and cooking. I go there sometimes for a good meal when I feel like it.”

“I have to be honest here, she has excellent cooking skills. Better than mine to say the least.”

“I bet.”

“There is one thing that has been bothering me for a while.”

“What would that be?”

“You act and behave completely different outside of GGO. Why is that?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? I haven’t acted any different than I have right now.”

“You’re… crazy and bloodthirsty yet… here you act completely normal and sweet.”

“Oh… well of course. You see, I’m a musician that plays the saxophone at a club that I work for. I studied music when I was in college. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working at the diving shop. I wanted to do something exciting and fun ever since our time in Aqours which is why I decided to take up saxophone play for anyone that wants to sing on stage at the club. Though, I won’t lie about this, I have a gun enthusiast which makes me crazy and bloodthirsty outside my work life. You should know that by now.”

“Oh… right. I guess time has made a fool out of me because I can’t remember you saying that about to me.”

“That’s okay. I forgot that you’re a gun enthusiast as well but unlike me, you’re not crazy at all.”

“Well, after spending so much time abroad, I forgot how to use a weapon properly until I started playing GGO. I didn’t expect to see you in that game which caught me by surprise.”

“Yeah, that was a real surprise there for ya.”

“By the way, why do you have those strange geometric looking tattoos on your cheeks?”

“Oh, about that, I use them for scare tactics against guys that try to ask me out but mainly to strike fear on those EDEN punk players that like to be toxic and start trash talking to other players. I really hate the EDEN faction a lot because most of their playerbase is filled with assholes and punks that harass on poor, weak players.”

“They pick on other players because of their low skill level and rank?”

“Yep, they do. It pisses me off because everyone wants to have some fun on GGO but when you have toxic players like that, it makes the gaming experience less fun and dreadful. I remember when I started GGO when it came online for the first time; half of the player population flooded to the EDEN faction because of the cool yet bizarre gear and color customization for their avatars. But as soon as they started playing the game, they developed this superiority attitude and picked on players like me that chose the NAF faction. I mean, I know it’s a game and all but that’s no excuse to be toxic and mean to new players, even on your own teammates on the same side.”

“Well then… I guess I’m glad I picked the NAF faction. I had a feeling that the EDEN faction would be filled with bad people in there.”

“A few of them are okay and nice but that’s just a small percentage there and they always ask many NAF players on hints and tips for a better weapons and gear in the game.”

“So, how did this game become a thing for today’s gaming world?”

“Well, it’s very odd to explain but as you see, the gaming industry wanted to venture into the next frontier of video games which is virtual reality or VR for short. However, they didn’t have any ideas on how or what to start with. But one day, someone came up with the idea of creating a virtual game world based off this popular anime show called Sword Art Online. In fact, the first ever true grand VRMMORPG game was named Sword Art Online as the flagship title for it.”

“Really? I think I remember a show like that before in the last decade which was popular at that time. I didn’t expect them to honestly make an actual Sword Art Online VRMMO game.”

“It was amazing that they did something like, even down to the NerveGear device that they used for it…”

Mari can sense that something is wrong as soon as Kanan paused in mid-sentence during the conversation.

“Unfortunately, the game went down the same incident that happened in the actual show. Those that survived the game were labeled as an SAO survivor.”

“Did you take part in that incident?”

“Thankfully, I didn’t or else my life wouldn’t be the same much.” Kanan chuckles a bit. “Don’t worry, GGO won’t go through the same incident like SAO since they won’t make the same mistake twice in a row. That’s why they created the AmuSphere to address the flaws and problems with the NerveGear.”

Mari has a hard time understanding VR technology much but gets the gest of what Kanan is telling her.

“Sorry if I’m boring you with all this VR nonsense talk.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I get the idea of what you’re telling me. It’s hard to imagine that a harmless game like SAO would leave a mark like that even if it was created based on an anime show like that. But I guess it was something beyond our control and expectations.”

“Pretty much like that but hey, at least we’re here together and alive.”

They look at each other and smiled as they are enjoying their dinner meal and conversation together like old times. This is the first time in a while that they were able to enjoy a romantic moment together without worrying about school or other things in life.

“Do you want me to sleep over with you, Mari?”

“I would love that a lot, Kanan. I want it to be like before. You and me together.”

“I’ll be happy to make that happen for you.”

They finished their meal and headed towards Mari’s bedroom. While they make their way to her room, Kanan notices how empty and dark the house feels without Mari’s family here. She even looks at the family photos and portraits of Mari and her parents but also notices some photos of herself and Dia with Mari. Those were very fond memories that she had during their childhood and school years. It was something that can’t ever change or fade away no matter how many years pass by; their love for each other.

“Welcome to my room.”

“Wow, this is much different than before. Did this room space belong to your parents before?”

“It did but with them gone overseas, this empty space became my permanent bedroom with a wonderful view of the town and the beautiful sea. Sometimes, I feel like I want to sing a song out here as I enjoy the wonderful breeze and ocean sound.”

“Sing huh… Have you ever thought about having a singing career or singing as a side job?”

“Singing as a career or side job? No, I haven’t honestly thought about it. I’ve been focused too much on managing my family’s hotel business here since they are gone but singing is something that hardly crossed my mind.”

“I’ve met a lot of customers that love to sing on stage but… none of them ever came close to your voice and music.”

“Really? I guess I never thought of it like that. Do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do. Every time I play my saxophone, I always think about you in my mind and heart. It’s like my heart is expressing my true feelings and passionate to be with the person I desire the most.”

“The person you desire the most… Has it always been me that you desire? Am I really the one for you?”

“Truthfully… you’ve always been the person I desire from the beginning since we met as kids. The day you came to our school, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, even for one second or moment.”

“Even the hug you gave me when we first met face to face? Tell me the truth please…” She starts to cry a little a bit as she asked Kanan and tries to get the answer she desires.

“The hug was more than just a simple friendship. It was my way of showing my true feelings for you yet I was a stupid fool for almost destroying that when you left for two years during our time at Uranohoshi. I was just…” Kanan clenches her fist in anger at herself for her stupid mistake.

Mari grabs her hand for a moment. “Kanan, don’t worry about it anymore. It’s all in the past. All I want is to be with you right now. I’m happy that Dia helped us fix our broken relationship back then and I’m still thankful for that. But I wonder… how strong is our love right now?”

“That’s a good question there. I would say that we’re more than what we were back then. You’re… more than just a childhood friend. You’re my… girlfriend.” Kanan cuddles Mari closely just as she goes in for a kiss. It was a kiss that Mari purposely allowed herself for and Kanan went for it. “You allowed yourself for me to kiss you, didn’t you?”

“I did on purpose to see if what you told me is true and you’ve proven that to me already. I don’t want to let go of you now. You’re the only person I want to be with.”

“I… don’t know what to say but… I love you, Mari. I love you with all my heart.”

“I feel the same, Kanan. I love you too. I want you in my life forever.”

“I want that as well.”

They both embrace in each other’s arms as they sit together on the bed while enjoying the wonderful night breeze coming from the opened balcony doors. The feeling in the atmosphere was that of passion and love despite how their relationship is in the game, nothing will ever break their love for each other. For now, they want to enjoy this night alone before they plan for the next day of fun and love.

 


	3. Death Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another fun time on GGO until something unexpected happens

“ _No… why? Why did this happen?_ ”

“ ** _I’m sorry… I didn’t know what to do…”_**

“ _You could have saved her if you didn’t hesitate…_ ”

“ ** _I’m sorry… please, forgive me…I wasn’t strong enough…_** ”

Kanan wakes up from what appears to be a nightmare. She hasn’t experience a nightmare for a while. This dream was something unusual for her as she couldn’t understand what happened to her or why this person was sad and upset in her dream. “God damn it, what the hell? Was it the same dream from what happened before? I guess my past won’t leave me alone.” She turns to see that she is still in her fancy apartment room. “I can’t even get a decent sleep now. I just hope that dream never becomes real. I don’t want to go through the same hell like in SAO.” She tries her best to forget about that dream but it seems it be harder than expected to forget what she experienced and hopes that such a terrible dream would never become a reality.

* * *

 

Just as things were going on as usual at SBC Glocken, a bunch of NAF and EDEN players are busy playing a game of pool at the public bar. It was a usual calm game for players on both factions that didn’t involve killing each other or trash talking. Just then, the MMO Stream network begins its broadcast which shows and focus on MMO-related content ingame. The show begins with a popular panel corner called “This Week’s Winners” which features two top players from the tournament event called Bullet of Bullets. The players, XeXeeD and Yamikze, were the top two players that faced off during the 2nd Bullet of Bullets tournament but XeXeeD emerge victorious due to his rare weapon and special defense.

“We’re here with this week’s winners on today’s MMO Stream network, XeXeeD and Yamikaze. These top two players were the winners of the 2nd Bullet of Bullets tournament.” The network moderators says as she begins the panel discussion. “So then, how was it that both you managed to come out on top in the last BoB tournament?”

“Well, it’s quite simple. All I did was tell a lot of players that AGI-build avatars were the best and they all fell for it like fish in a barrel.” XeXeeD says in a smug manner. “Those fools honestly believed that AGI-builds were the best. They are delusional. The reality is STR-VIT builds have the best and real advantage in the long term. With those two compared, you can be at the top of the game over others. Anyway, I have a message for all those players that boosted their AGIs for the past eight months; Sucks to be you, you losers.” He gloats and insults all the players that focused on AGI builds like fools while he continues to be smug about it.

Many EDEN players at the bar booed and cussed at him since XeXeeD is the top player representing the EDEN faction while Yamikaze represents the NAF faction. They hate how XeXeeD used underhanded and deceitful tactics like that just to get an edge over everyone else which explains why many EDEN players are very hostile and toxic at others while NAF players have a general dislike towards XeXeeD’s toxicity and scum tactics.

“Well, that’s quite a remark coming from one of the top players in Gun Gale Online. So bold yet controversial.” The moderator says but she doesn’t criticize him for that since it’s not her place or job to do that.

“I guess so but who knows if I’ll get another chance to be on MMO Stream. So I might as well stir things up a bit around here.”

“No worries. Anyway, do you think you have a shot at the next Bullet of Bullets tournament?”

“Hell yeah, sweet cheeks. I wouldn’t bother to take part in the BoB tournament if I didn’t stand a chance.”

The shouting and profanity continues on from the EDEN players as XeXeeD gloats on his “guaranteed” entry and victory in the upcoming 3rd Bullet of Bullets tournament.

“It won’t be that easy, XeXeeD. The Bullet of Bullets tournament is a solo battle royale game, so it’s way different than your typical game mode or tournament. What you use to work, won’t have the same results, meaning it won’t work again. So if I were you, I wouldn’t get full of yourself just yet.” Yamikaze enters the discussion and tells off at XeXeeD in a calm yet critical manner. He knows that what tricks XeXeeD used in the last tournament, can’t be used twice since many players are now aware of his dirty tricks.

“Yeah well, if anything, my results point to some big changes happening to GGO. You’re all about AGI, Yamikaze. I figured you will be in denial.” Yamikaze doesn’t like XeXeeD’s slick and smug remark about his stats and skill level. But he refuses to stoop to XeXeeD’s level and ignores him.

“Wake up, everyone. We all know that before the best strategies were AGI builds were the best when it came to running and shooting your weapon as fast as you can. But the true reality is, the balance of gameplay in MMOs is constantly changing and evolving, especially in a game like this one, where your level and stats don’t get any respect and sheer power and use of offensive and tactical drone technology. You have to think ahead of the game and use your points. You also must master the use of drones in order to have an edge your opponents in battle. Because one weapon or drone used in one battle before won’t be good in the next. Besides, the new weapons that will be coming in soon will have higher stats requirement. If you want to be the very best in this game, you need to do anything to gain the edge over everyone else since this game is a constant battle and war against each other.” XeXeeD explains to everyone how the game’s constant changes contribute to wins and losses in battles along with reputation as a professional player. But even with his minor words of wisdom, many players are still angry and pissed off at him for his tricks and express their discontent and disgust of XeXeeD.

“I hate that XeXeeD guy. His talk about being a great AGI-type player was all garbage nonsense. What a total fraud he is.”

“I can’t believe that guy represents our faction. It’s no wonder we got a lot of hate.”

“You know what they say, certain things can rub off on you. Toxicity spurs more toxicity.”

However, one person in a strange cloak, sitting alone decides to walk up to the bar’s monitor screen. This mysterious person takes out a very unusual pistol and aims at the screen.

“ **XeXeeD, you’re nothing but a fake. A fraud. You have deceived many people with your lies and tricks. Therefore, I will pass down judgement on you with real power. The judgement is DEATH, XeXeeD!** ” He says in a very scary distorted voice while concealing his face with a mask.

The players simply laughed at his so-called “judgement” nonsense talk, thinking that this mystery player is just some weirdo or troll angry at XeXeeD. Even one of the EDEN group leaders was amused by this and made fun of the mystery player’s “silly” talk. But the mysterious player does a holy cross hand gesture, signifying that he is going to do something as he shoots his pistol at the screen. All the players in the bar started laugh at the mystery player’s shot at the screen until for some odd reason, XeXeeD was apparently looking like he was suffering a heart attack and disconnects from the game. The moderator assumes that it might be a bad connection on him and tells everyone to stay tune. But everyone at the bar are afraid at what they just witnessed.

“ **Behold, this is real power. Real Strength. Let your fears curve this name into your minds. The name I share with this weapon; DEATH GUN! All deceivers will face judgement by my gun.** ” The player reveals his name as Death Gun as he demonstrated his true intentions and power of killing anyone that he sees as an opposition or fraud, starting with XeXeeD. Some of the NAF players recorded and wrote down what they witnessed as they requested GMs to investigate but the mysterious Death Gun departed and disappeared before any of the GMs were able to arrive at the scene of the commotion.

* * *

Kanan spends another typical day at the bar place she works in the real world. She asked her boss if she could take the rest of the day off since business today is very low. Her boss was okay with it. But as soon as Kanan takes her leave, she is stopped by two mysterious ladies in black suits that wanted to talk to her for some unexplained reason.

“What the…? Who the hell are you two?”

“Don’t be alarmed, we’re not yakuzas or anything.” One of them shows their ID. “I’m 1st Lieutenant Lisa Wheeler and my partner here is 2nd Lieutenant Kokoro Asuno. We’re part of the United States Armed Forces Japan’s Cyber Division unit. We need you for something important.”

“Why is the U.S. military interested in me right now? In fact, I would expect the J.S.D.F. to be the first to ask me instead the U.S.”

“To be honest, I was surprised that my superiors wanted us to investigate a concerning situation that was outside our jurisdiction. However, this concern is related to a company based in the U.S. which has prompts us to intervene.”

“Alright then, tell me about it.”

The trio take a seat at a table

“If it’s anything related to the SAO incident before, I have nothing to say on that.”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s about something else.” Agent Wheeler goes through her digital notebook device. “Have you heard about a player named XeXeeD?”

“Huh? What about him? I don’t like the guy because he is a scum player.”

“I noticed on that. You play a game called Gun Gale Online and you’ve been a veteran player of the game since it launched. So, I take that you know a lot about the players in the game.”

“The only thing to know is that I had a personal grudge on the guy for using bullshit tactics against some of my friends in the game. Why do you ask?”

“Have a look at this.” The agent hands over her digital notebook to Kanan to see.

“Who is this guy? Never seen him before.”

“His name is Shigemura Tamotsu. He is the player, XeXeeD which you hated so much. He was found dead in his apartment last week when his landlord tried to collect his rent for the month and noticed something wrong when he didn’t respond. The cause of death seems to be heart failure.”

“Wait, his heart failed? That guy looks too healthy to have any heart problems.”

“That’s what it said on the autopsy report but we couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary from it. It is very unusual that he died like that.”

“So you think I’m the only person who knows him and would know something about it? Like I said before, I don’t know the guy in real life nor did I know his actual ingame name before his death. I just didn’t expect that a guy like him would be the XeXeeD player.”

“No one here is accusing you of any wrongdoing. But this isn’t the only concern we have here. Recently, another player by the name of Usujio Tarako who also played the game was found dead as well with the same week.”

“Wait, you don’t mean our Usujio Tarako?” Kanan paused for a moment after hearing a familiar name. “He’s a top player in the NAF faction. He’s like a mentor and close friend to some of our NAF players.”

“Yes, it’s the same person that you just mentioned. He was found dead in his apartment as well when someone saw him lying in bed while delivering the newspaper. The cause of death was also heart failure. He also top ranked player. Did you know him in a way?”

“Yeah… he was one of our regular customers at this place… He always came by and enjoyed my saxophone music play whenever he had his usual drink. He even protected me one time from a crazy drunk customer who was harassing me. He was quite a charmer and he even had a nice girlfriend too who he brought one time. I just… can’t believe this…” Kanan felt heartbroken after hearing the loss of a good friend and player. It was a hard blow to her personally.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. I take it that you were not fully aware on what was going on in GGO?”

“I have been offline for a week due to having a busy schedule. I was planning to go online on GGO today. This is just too much for me now.”

“However, there was one important thing that was noted in. Apparently, a mysterious player shot XeXeeD using a Type 54 BlackStar pistol as one player described it. This was recorded and written in a blog about. The player said something about passing judgement and he also shot at your friend at the central plaza in SBC Glocken when he was holding a squadron meeting. Both shots were at blank-point range.”

“Who was it? What was their name?”

“He calls himself, Death Gun.”

“Death Gun? Are you certain about that? There is no way this Death Gun person can kill someone in the virtual world that kills them in real life. That’s impossible especially with the AmuSphere technology.”

“I know. This has our superiors concerned as well about this since VR technology is all the rage currently.”

“Did any of the admins or GMs found this Death Gun?”

“That’s the mystery there. None of them were able to catch or stop Death Gun for some unexplained reason. That’s why we decided to ask a veteran player for some help in order to uncover these mysterious deaths.”

“So you want my help for this?”

“You’re a veteran player which means it will be easy to get Death Gun’s attention since he has a certain criteria in order for him to take notice of. That means you will enter the upcoming Bullet of Bullets tournament and win in the preliminaries to get his attention to found out more on Death Gun. So, will you be willing to help us solve this problem?”

Kanan thought for a moment on this bizarre incident that is happening but at the same time, she is thinking about her deceased friend who died for no reason. “I will help as long as I can get my hands on Death Gun for the death of Usujio. I want to make that bastard pay for what he did.” She tells them on her intention in confronting the mysterious Death Gun to avenge her fallen friend and comrade.

“I don’t want you to do anything reckless. We just need to get to the bottom of this and stop it before it spreads. We don’t want this to end up being another SAO incident here.”

“Alright then but the first moment I see Death Gun, he will be mine to fight.”

* * *

 

While the whole Death Gun rumors is going about in the game, Mari decides to enjoy a peaceful sightseeing trip in the Forgotten Forest region due to being the only area with a beautiful blue sky and sun despite being infested with some robots and low level monsters. This is the only place she can enjoy some peace without worrying about PK players and enemy NPCs trying to kill her. But as soon as she sits down, she can hear a strange voice calling out.

“ _Mama? Papa? Where are you?_ ”

“Is that a… child’s voice? Sounds like a lost little girl.”

“ _Mama… where are you?_ _I can hear you._ ”

“Wait, can she hear me? That can’t be… I must find her.”

She gets up and pulls out her Hecate sniper rifle just in case if this strange voice turns out to be a trap. She scopes the area in front and around her using her weapon’s sniper scope to see if there is anything out of the ordinary to avoid possible frontal attacks. There is nothing odd or anything that looks unusual, just nothingness around.

“That’s odd, I can feel the voice’s presence coming from that area. It feels a bit stronger there.” She moves cautiously forward where the voice is coming from. She goes in deeper into the woods as the area is becoming slightly blurry around her. Suddenly, she lowers her weapon and moves in a trance-like state towards this odd glowing area where the voice is emitting from.

Around ten minutes later, Kanan moves into the forest to look for Mari who for some reason, is not where she told her she would be.

“God damn it, that woman told me she would be here.”

She then starts to hear the same voice that Mari went to investigate.

“ _Papa? Is that you? Where are you?_ ”

“What the fucking hell? What nonsense is this?”

Kanan starts to feel a little annoyed by this weird urge that is calling to her to follow the voice. “Is that a little kid voice? There’s no way that there is a little kid in this game. It must be an AI support gone nuts. Stupid dumb admins.” She goes to investigate the disturbance in the forest while assuming that an AI support player has gone off its programming function. But as she moves in closer to the area, she sees a familiar person who seems to be cuddling a child in her arms.

“What the hell? Mari?”

Mari slowly turns to look to see and looks at Kanan with a happy look on her face.

“Kanan, come, I found our daughter.” She says

Surprisingly, the little girl resembles like Kanan but with Mari’s eye colors. However, Kanan doesn’t respond back and instead answers by taking out a Kagemitsu G4 Photon Sword which is a lightsaber melee weapon and a FN Five Seven pistol. She lights up the sword and points it at Mari who clearly has a “killing intent” as she smiles with a sinister look in her face and moves towards Mari and the child.

“Kanan, what are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that? Please, don’t hurt our child.”

“You’re a stupid, gullible idiot, Mari. You should know that “child” you have is not even real. It’s just an AI support that is programmed for emotional support. You should know by now how games like this works. I was fooled once by such a thing but I vowed to never let that happened again for as long as I play this game.”

“No, you’re wrong. She is a real child and she belongs to us. She told me… She’s not an AI or program. She’s real.” Mari tries her best to reason with Kanan but it seems to be futile at this point.

“And you believed that from an AI? God damn, you’re so naïve yet innocent.” She laughs at Mari’s innocence and naïve attitude towards the matter at hand. She knows that there is only course of action and outcome for this to end. “Very well then, I have no choice then.” Kanan positions herself into an attack stance with her photon sword in one hand and her pistol on the other hand. She looks at them like a crazy maniac fighter who is ready to kill them both to prove her point and a challenge.  “PREPARE YOURSELF!!!”

 


End file.
